Surgical splint



Oct. 26, 1954 v. KELLY SURGICAL SPLINT s Sheets-Sheet i Filed Aug. 7,1951 Victor L. Kelly INVENTOR.

BY -Mzq,

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Oct. 26, 1954 v. L. KELLY 2,692,594

SURGICAL SPLINT Filed Aug. 7, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 3

Vicfor L. Kelly INVENTOR.

arc W 8m Oct. 26, 1954 v. L. KELLY SURGICAL SPLINT s Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Aug. 7, 1951 Fig.8

66 64 Fig. 9

Victor L. Kelly INVENTOR.

BY glam Patented Oct. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates .to new and useful improvements in surgicalsplints and more particularly to a splint having novel and improvedfeatures over that disclosed in my copending application Serial No.793,223, filed December ,22, 1947, now U. S. Patent No. 2,573,715.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a surgicalsplint composed of quickly and readily adjustable parts, whereby thesplint may be employed on various parts of the human body in aconvenient manner.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide asurgical splint including an open cage like member that will enclose apart of a users body and which member is so constructed as to permit itslength and circumference to be reduced or increased in a minimum time tofit anatomies of varying proportions.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a surgicalsplint including a U-shaped base member whose web portion is composed oftwo slidably and adjustably connected legs removably secured to the legportions of the member, together with a plurality of guard members andcradle members that include slidably connected sections mounted on theleg portions of the base member.

A still further aim of the present invention is to provide a surgicalsplint that is simple and practical in construction, strong and reliablein use, small and compact in structure, efficient and durable inoperation, inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwise well adapted forthe purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side View of the invention in use;

Figure 2 is a view showing the invention placed upon the arm of a personwhose hand is amputated;

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of Figure 1 but showing the webportion of the U-shaped base member disposed coplanar with the legportions of the base member;

Figure 4 is a side view of Figure 3 and with dotted lines showing theweb portion of the base member disposed perpendicular to the legportions of the base member;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially on the planeof section line 55 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a group perspective view of one of the guard members used inthe invention, the fasteners not being shown;

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken substantially on theplane of section line 1-7 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is an enlarged view of Figure 2 but showing a U-shapedlongitudinal guard member incorporated in the device;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary side view of the U-shaped longitudinal guardmember used in Figure 8; and,

Figure 10 is an end view of Figure 8.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the numeral 10 represents a flexible and resilient U--shapedbase member of suitable material that includes a pair of elongated legportions 12 and I4 having longitudinally spaced transverse weakenedareas i5, and a web portion [6.

The web portion i6 is composed of two arcuate sections l8 and 20 thatare slidably and adjustably connected in a manner now to be described. Achannel 22 is formed at the inner end of the section 18 and slidablyreceives the inner end of the section 20. Section 20 is provided withspaced parallel, transverse rows of weakened areas 24 and section 20 isalso provided with an aperture 26 between each pair of adjacent areas24. Channel 22 is formed with a pair of apertures 28 that will oppose apair of the apertures 26 and fasteners 30 are extended throughregistering apertures 26 and 28 to join the sections l8 and '20.

The outer ends of the sections i8 and 20 are each formed with twoapertures that receive fasteners 32 and 34. The fasteners 32 constitutepivots and extend through accommodating apertures in plates 36 at theforward ends of the leg portions l2 and i4, whereas the fasteners 34selectively extend through apertures 38 in the plates 36 to permit theweb portion It to be retained coplanar with or at right angles to theleg portions [2 and [4, depending whether or not the base member isapplied as shown in Figure 2 to a stump or to a complete arm as shown inFigure 1.

Guard members 40 and cradle members 62 constitute a means connecting theleg portions I2 and M. Each of the guard members and cradle members iscomposed of two arcuate sections 42 and 44 whose outer ends are bentoutwardly upon themselves to form loops or guide sleeves 46 and 3 48that slidably but non-rotatably receive the leg portions 12 and I4.

A guide channel 50 is formed at the inner end of each section 42 andslidably receives the inner end of a companion section 44. Sections 44are also provided with spaced parallel rows of transverse perforationsor weakened areas 52 and openings 54 are provided in the sections ,44between adjacent rows of perforations 52. The channels 50 each includesa pair of apertures 56 that will oppose selected openings 54 andfasteners 58 extend through the apertures 56 and the openings 54 inregistry therewith to permit adjustment of the guard members and thecradle members.

The cradle members 62 are wider than the guard members 40 and their archis slightly less than that of the guard members since they are to restabout and against protective arch pads of resilient material 60. Thesepad engaging cradle members support the devic e upon the anatomy and aredesignated by the numeral 62 but are constructed identical to the guardmembers 40.

It will thus be seen that the present splint is composed of readilyadjustable parts whose individual lengths may be reduced by breakingalong their weakened areas. Also, the length of the splint may beconveniently reduced for a particular use and the distance between theleg portions 12 and I4 varied for a particular purpose.

In order to further increase the efiectiveness of the present surgicalsplint, there is provided a U- shaped, flexible, longitudinal guardmember 64, attachable to or detachable from the device, illustrated inFigures 8, 9 and 10.

U-shaped, flexible, longitudinal guard member 64 is disposed in a planeperpendicular to the plane of the U-shaped base member ID. The centralportion of the web portion of member 64 is formed with an aperture thatreceives one of the fasteners 30. The leg portions of member 64 extendacross the guard members 40. The leg portions of member 54 are providedwith longitudinally spaced apertures 66 that will accommodate one of thefasteners 58 of each guard member 40 to secure the member 64 to eachguard member 40. The leg portions of the member 64 are also providedwith longitudinally spaced transverse weakened areas 58 to permit areduction in the length of the member 64 in accordance with a particularrequirement.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A surgical splint comprising a sectional U- shaped base memberadapted to embrace a part of the human body, said base member includinga pair of leg portions and a web portion joining said leg portions, saidleg portions having a plurality of longitudinally spaced transverseweakened areas whereby the length of the leg portions may be reduced, aplurality of guard members and cradle members slidably adjustablymounted on said leg portions and joining the latter, and

means removably fastening said web portion to said leg portions andselectively retaining the web portion in a plane common with the legportions or a plane perpendicular to said leg portions.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said guard members, said webportion and cradle members each includes a pair of arcuate sectionsadjustably connected together, whereby said leg portions may be movedselectively toward and away from each other.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said guard members and cradlemembers each includes a pair of arcuate sections having inner and outerends, the inner ends of each pair of sections overlapping each other,means adjustably connecting the inner ends of each pair of sectionstogether.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein each of said guard members andcradle members includes a pair of arcuate sections having inner andouter end portions, said outer end portions terminating in loopsslidably receiving said leg portions, a channel at the inner end portionof one section of each guard member and cradle member slidably receivingthe inner end portion of the other section of each guard member andcradle member, and fasteners joining the inner end portions of eachguard member and cradle member.

5. A surgical splint comprising a pair of parallel members having outerends formed with flat extensions, a U-shaped web portion having its endspivoted to said extensions for swinging movement of the web portionrelative to said parallel members, each end of said web portion havingan aperture therein, said extensions each having a pair of apertures forselectively registering with the apertures in said Web portion, one ofsaid pair of apertures in each extension being in registry with theapertures in said web portion when the latter is disposed perpendicularto the pair of members, the other of said pair of apertures in saidextensions being in registry with the apertures in said web portion whenthe latter is disposed in the plane of the parallel members, andfasteners extending through the apertures in the web portion and throughone aperture in each extension to retain the web portion perpendicularto or in the plane of the parallel members.

6. The combination of claim 5 and an elongated U-shaped guard memberdisposed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of said parallel members,a plurality of cradle members having ends engaged with said parallelmembers, and means removably securing said U-shaped guard member to eachof said cradle members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,479,535 Ferragamo Jan. 1, 1924 1,663,921 Pierce Mar. 27,1928 2,261,058 Forbis Oct. 28, 1941 2,511,659 Wilson June 13, 19502,573,715 Kelly Nov. 6, 1951

